Elite

Top lures at Pasquotank River/Albemarle Sound 2026

The hottest new lure in bass fishing was on fire at the seventh Elite derby of the season.

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Photography by
Andy Crawford
Photography by
Dalton Tumblin
Photography by
Christopher Decker
Photography by
Chase Sansom
West Virginia
Photography by
Shane Durrance
Captions by
Craig Lamb
The Chowan River stole the show at the Maxam Tire Bassmaster Elite at Pasquotank River/Albemarle Sound. One of five primary rivers in the 55-mile-long sound, the Chowan was favored by top anglers for lower salinity levels and subtle current preferred by the largemouth. Photo: Craig Lamb
For Jason Christie the Chowan produced the winning catch from an obscure boat dock that in the final two days produced 28 pounds of his overall winning weight of 92-7. 
“It is the best dock I have ever fished. It took care of me yesterday and today. Without that, I wouldn’t be standing here.” Christie said. “It was something about the current. When I would pull up there would be baitfish jumping out of the water.”
One dock and one bait. That combination rewarded Christie with his 10th B.A.S.S. win to include seven Elite titles, two Opens victories and a Bassmaster Classic. Christie also won his second blue trophy of the 2026 Elite season, following his March victory at the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. 
Add Christie to the list of six anglers on Championship Sunday who showed urchin-style baits in this gallery. See how the pros rigged them along with other top lure choices.
Click here to buy these lures at Bass Pro Shops.
Tyler Williams (10th; 67-5)
Williams flipped and pitched a skirted jig to key areas of isolated structure. 
His top choice was a 3/8-ounce Greenfish Tackle Little Rubber Jig with 3.75-inch Yamamoto Flappin’ Hog. 
Kyle Patrick (9th; 71-15)
Patrick went with a topwater walker for surface feeding bass and a swimbait and stick worm for other tactics. 
The Strike King KVD Sexy Dawg was the topwater choice. 
Alternatively, most of his quality bites came on a 6-inch Bass Mafia Daingerous Swimbait (Unloaded) with 4/0 hook and 3/16-ounce weighted shaft. 
For finesse bites he relied on this X Zone Lures True Center Stick with Gamakatsu B10S Stinger Hook and rigged weightless. 
Wesley Gore (8th; 76-8)
Gore favored the growing versatility of an urchin-style bait. 
That choice was a 17mm Hideup Coike rigged with 1/0 Neko-style hook and 3/32-ounce nail weight. 
Chris Zaldain (7th; 77-9)
Zaildain used a swimbait he designed for Bass Mafia, fishing the bait around bridge trestles with current. 
That choice was this 5-inch Bass Mafia Daingerous Swimbait (Unloaded) with 3/16-ounce in-line style hook.
Stetson Blaylock (6th; 78-3)
Blaylock used an urchin-style bait that he flipped around heavy cover. 
He rigged those on a 1/0 hook. 
Click here to buy these lures at Bass Pro Shops.
Drew Cook (5th; 82-4)
Cook used an urchin-style bait for flipping primarily around isolated cypress trees and knees. His choice was this Coike Fullcast rigged on 1/0 bronze Gamakatsu Round Bend Treble Hook with 1/16-ounce Gamakatsu TG Trigger Nail weight.
Cook made a weightless wacky rig with a Spro Wacky Snack 5.25, rigged on No. 2 Gamakatsu G-Finesse Weedless Stinger Hook with Gamakatsu TG Trigger Nail Weight. 
Cody Huff (4th; 85-0)
Huff flipped and pitched an urchin-style bait around isolated wood cover.
His main lure was the new Bass Pro Shops XPS Urch X rigged on a treble hook. 
Hunter Shryock (3rd; 86-10)
Shryock began each day fishing in the back of a meandering creek off the Chowan River, where he fished shallow cover with an urchin-style bait. Later in the day, he fished a glidebait around flooded brush on the main river. The big bait produced a 7- and 8-pounder off the same brushpile. 
The big bass bait was this 8-inch Berkley PowerBait Chop Block.  
For flipping and pitching in the creek, he used this Berkley PowerBait MaxScent ‘Moeba. 
Fisher Anaya (2nd; 87-1)
Anaya weighed just three bass weighing 8-7 on Day 1, but the next day he rallied with 26-9. He doubled down on Day 3 with 26-12 and added 24-5 on Sunday. In the Chowan River, Anaya targeted isolated stumps 250 yards or so off the bank that he felt held very late spawners. 
A top lure was this prototype 3/8-ounce Rapala jig with CrushCity Cleanup Craw. 
He also used this CrushCity Freeloader on 1/8-ounce jig head. 
Jason Christie (1st; 92-7) 
Christie caught bass off cypress trees, laydowns and stumps without any one structure proving consistent in the Chowan River. After Day 3 he found the motherlode on the single current-swept dock, using an urchin-style bait that proved to be the winning lure. Christie used forward-facing sonar only to located cover and structure elements. 
For flipping he used the new YUM Mother Bug on 5/0 Eagle Claw TK130 Flippin’ Hook with 3/8-ounce tungsten weight. 
He rigged the urchin bait on a 2/0 Eagle Claw Trokar TK250 Double Frog Hook, with a 1/8- or 3/8-ounce drop-shot weight with a split ring. The setup kept the hooks up, bait down for maximum lure action and hookups. 

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